Tag Archives: Photography

Week in Photos

What a beautiful week we had in Indiana. The weather was bright + warm all week with blue skies during the day and pink and orange sunsets every night. Spring is such a lovely time.

Here are six little things that made my beautiful spring week wonderful.

{This. A gift given to me. What can I even say. It was the greatest surprise and just so, so sweet.}

{This sandwich. My lunch on Friday. This burger + lettuce + tomato. So good.}

{This fruit. Lately, I just can’t get enough.}

{This smoothie. Pre-blend. Mango + blueberry + spinach. What’s your favorite smoothie combo?}

{This. Something I’m working on for class.}

{This sky. One of many from the past week.}

Enjoy your Sunday. 🙂

Eggplant + Zucchini Tomato Pasta

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Last Friday, pizza. This Friday, pasta.

This pasta. Is so good.

I’ve been on a pasta hiatus for a little while. Not on purpose. It’s just not something I’ve been craving. Then this goat cheese pasta happened. And now this.

This pasta is fresh, it’s flavorful. It’s filled with veggies. It’s light. A big bowl of this won’t make you wish you hadn’t. It will make you happy!

Really, this pasta has been a highlight of my day the past few days. I’ve been looking forward to it. Once lunch has been over, I have started thinking about the big steamy bowl of this pasta I will eat for dinner. It makes me happy. 🙂

I don’t know what it is. Because this really is so super simple. Just (canned!) tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, kale, onions, some fresh garlic, basil and cheese. And great noodles. Great noodles are key.

I used little chiocciole noodles. I had never heard of them before. But I saw them. And thought they were cute. So I got them. And they are perfect. I cut the zucchini and eggplant the same size as the noodles so everything is just the same size and happy together. 🙂

If you don’t think you like eggplant, you should still try this.

It cooks up nicely in this dish. It’s not tough at all. It has the same texture as the zucchini in this pasta. It might be from the salting technique I describe in the recipe. Salting the eggplant and zucchini before cooking releases most excess water in the vegetables and helps them cook better.

Oh, and after I made this, I read that you should not cook tomato dishes in cast iron because it will break down the seasoning. Oops. You live and you learn, I guess. I re-seasoned mine.

One big bowl of happiness coming your way!

Ingredients:
1 medium yellow onion
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
Olive oil
1 medium zucchini
1 medium eggplant
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 – 14 oz. cans of diced tomatoes
2 cups chopped kale
14 oz. of noodles, I used chiocciole noodles
Fresh basil, for topping
Freshly grated parmesan cheese, for topping

Start this pasta by prepping the eggplant and zucchini. Thickly slice the eggplant and zucchini. Lay them on a baking sheet and generously sprinkle with salt. Let sit for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, you will see water droplets on top of the sliced veggies. Take a paper towel and absorb the water from the slices. Flip the slices and sprinkle the other side with salt. Let sit another 15 minutes and then absorb the water droplets from that side. You can read + see the method thoroughly here. This process will help the eggplant and zucchini cook better by helping them not release as much water.

While the zucchini and eggplant are sitting, put a pot of water on to boil for the noodles. Open your cans of tomato paste and diced tomatoes. Chop the kale and basil. Dice the onion. Shred some parmesan for topping. Cook the noodles once the water boils. Once the zucchini and eggplant process is done, chop them.

In a pan or pot, add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onion begins to get soft and slightly brown. Add the chopped zucchini and eggplant. Cook another 5-7 minutes, or until the veggies are soft and slightly brown as well. Add the tomato paste and stir. Add the 2 cans of diced tomatoes. Stir well, so that the tomato paste is completely incorporated into the other veggies. Cook for several minutes, until the sauce begins to slightly simmer. Add the chopped kale and stir. Cook for another 5 minutes, making sure that the kale gets soft and the the sauce thickens.

If you cook the sauce in a big enough pan or pot, stir the noodles right into the sauce and then serve. If your pan isn’t big enough to hold the pasta too (mine wasn’t), scoop some noodles onto a serving dish and then top with sauce.

Top the pasta with parmesan cheese and fresh chopped basil to serve.

Enjoy!

Peach + Cranberry Baked Oatmeal

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Baked oatmeal, again.

This is the 63rd post on this little blog and the third time I made baked oatmeal for you. That’s one baked oatmeal every 21 days. Except that my first two baked oatmeal recipes were posted just 10 days apart.

I was going to take a break from making baked oatmeal until this past weekend. I ate it at a restaurant. And after the first bite, I knew I’d be making it for you soon.

This combo of peaches + cranberries was inspired by what I ate at Cafe 101. I’ve had the idea of peach baked oatmeal in the back of my mind for a while, but have been waiting for fresh peaches. Cafe 101’s baked oatmeal was so good though, and I’m pretty certain the peaches weren’t fresh, so I decided to go for it. What made my decision even easier was the can of Three Springs Fruit Farm peaches I had in my cupboard. With that, I had no doubt that canned peaches would suffice.

Even though this is the third time I made you baked oatmeal, this is the first time it doesn’t contain nuts. Or golden raisins. But it does have dried cranberries. Those are close to raisins. I really wanted to use fresh cranberries, but could not find them! I don’t think I realized fresh cranberries were a seasonal purchase. Definitely wrong about that.

And! I baked this in my cast iron skillet. Yes, I am obsessed. It’s the best.

This oatmeal is delicious. Not overly sweet, but for me, just the right amount. The cranberries get plump and the juicy peaches break right apart after they are baked. Sweet cinnamon and vanilla compliment the fruit perfectly.

Ingredients
2 cups oats (I used old fashioned)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups milk (I used almond)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil, melted + cooled
5 canned peach halves, diced

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a cast iron skillet or a baking pan with butter or coconut oil.

In a bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and dried cranberries.

In another bowl, mix together the milk, egg, vanilla extract and melted butter or coconut oil. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and mix well. Fold in the diced peaches.

Transfer batter to the greased skillet or pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until oatmeal is set and slightly golden brown.

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato + Black Bean Burgers with Curry Ketchup

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I’ve made more burgers for you!

I don’t exactly consider these veggie burgers. The last burgers I made for you were definitely veggie burgers. They were packed with veggies. These burgers are simpler, with much fewer ingredients. They really only have one veggie in them + sweet potatoes and beans.

Are sweet potatoes veggies? Greg and I always do this thing where we count the number of veggies in the meals that we eat. I feel like I always count sweet potatoes.

I loved the black bean + cilantro burgers I made for you, but they are just a bit time consuming. They don’t take that much time, but this time around I wanted something that can really be whipped up any night of the week, easily and quickly.

The roasted sweet potatoes lend the perfect texture to these burgers. They are soft + binding. Also, delicious + flavorful. The black beans add great texture as well, and go great with sweet potatoes. I love caramelized red onion, and also think that they + sweet potatoes are a great combination.

I made these burgers vegan by using Dijon mustard as a “wet” ingredient rather than an egg. I’m not vegan, but I’m vegan-interested. I also thought recently – if people who eat meat try to go meatless once a week (Meatless Monday), what can already-non-meat-eating people do? They can try to go vegan once a week. So, here is my attempt at once-a-week vegan eating. Dijon instead of an egg. I’ll take it. 🙂

Also, I topped these burgers simply. Some greens and some curry ketchup. Yes, curry ketchup!

I first heard of curry ketchup from Greg’s mom. She said she made it and I was immediately super interested. I had never heard of it. And then, Greg and I went out to eat with his sister and we had fries with curry ketchup. It did not disappoint at all. I loved it!

I followed this recipe. And love it. It will be good on so many things! And, if you don’t want to make your own ketchup, you can undoubtedly just stir some curry powder into ketchup from a bottle.

You’ve got to try this. Sweet potatoes + black beans + caramelized red onion + curry ketchup = one delicious burger.

Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes
Olive oil
1 medium red onion
Salt
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 – 15 oz. can black beans
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 350*. Peel and cube the sweet potatoes. Combine the sweet potatoes with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Toss well to coat the potatoes. Roast on a baking sheet for about 30 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are very soft.

While the sweet potatoes are roasting, dice the red onion. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a pan on the stove over medium-high heat. Add the onions to the hot oil with a pinch of salt. Stir, and let cook over medium-high heat for about five minutes, or until onions begin to brown. Turn heat down to medium-low and cook for 20-30 minutes, or until onions are caramelized.

When the sweet potatoes are done roasting, add them to a bowl and mash them using a potato masher. I left mine semi-chunky for texture, but they can also be mashed well so there are no chunks left. Add the black beans to the bowl and mash again, to incorporate the beans. Add the red onion, breadcrumbs and Dijon mustard. Stir well to combine everything. The mixture should be thick + gooey.

Add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Form the mixture into patties and cook in the oil for about five minutes on each side, or until the burgers are golden brown, slightly crispy and warmed through.

*Notes:
-You could definitely use an egg here instead of the Dijon, if mustard is not your thing. If using an egg, substitute one egg for all of the mustard. Using the mustard definitely gives the burgers a mustard-y taste.
-To make this gluten free, just use certified gluten free breadcrumbs.
-Click here for the curry ketchup recipe. Seriously so delicious!

DC: The Last of Day Two + Day Three

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The time has finally come. This will be my last post chronicling my family’s trip to Washington, D.C. over a month ago! While I enjoy looking back at the photos, I would say that the time has come to wrap up the DC posts. To see my previous posts, click here, here, here and here.

The end of day two was spent walking to Georgetown. It was quite the trek, but worth it, in my opinion. The sights were lovely, especially with the sun setting along our walk. We passed George Washington University and the Watergate Hotel.

We stopped at a boardwalk area, right along the water, where people were enjoying the sunset at outdoors bars, despite it being slightly chilly. That area was beautiful, as you will see in the photos. There were several boats on the water and the sun was too picturesque. Greg and I talk about going back to that part of Georgetown this summer, sitting outside for some food and drink while enjoying the weather.

In Georgetown, as I talked about before, we made a stop at Baked and Wired for some sweet treats. We then walked up and down the streets, taking in the busy nightlife. The streets were packed the night we were there, but that did not stop us from enjoying our time there. Just after dark, the group decided to be done for the day. We hopped on a bus and then a metro line to make our way back for pizza then games and beer at the hotel.

Day three was our final day. We spent it in Old Town Alexandria. We also stayed in Alexandria, but a much newer part. Old Town is just charming. It is beautiful. I could have spent days there. The cutest shops, desirable restaurants and bars and again, a waterfront area. This is another place Greg and I would like to make it back to, soon.

We visited the Torpedo Factory Art Center. The Torpedo Factory was in fact a torpedo factory during World War I. Now, it is home to artists galleries and workshops. It is open to the public and also has a little cafe in it. We spent a fair amount of time there, and Greg and I feel that we could spend an entire day browsing all of the beautiful artwork. Definitely a must-see in Alexandria if you are in to unique, authentically made artwork.

We ate lunch at The Fish Market where I had crab stuffed avocados (yum!) and “The Port City Po Boy.” It was an open faced po’ boy sandwich with fried oysters, shrimp and crawfish. In complete honesty, I would not order the sandwich again. The seafood was too fried for my taste and I would have liked more veggie toppings. Overall, however, I would go back to The Fish Market in a second! Great atmosphere, and other than my choice for me, great food!

Our time in Alexandria ended with a stop at Lavender Moon Cupcakery. The first thing that drew me to the place was the name. Love it. And the cupcakes did not disappoint. At Lavender Moon, I tried a strawberry cupcake and Meyer lemon lavender cupcake. The strawberry cupcake was my favorite. It reminded me of strawberries and cream. Another great cupcake spot in DC!

We were sad to leave DC, but we are excited for the next trip. There are so many things to do in the DC area, I could go a thousand times and never get sick of it!

Please enjoy, the last of the DC photos.